Dbq Indian Removal

The Cherokee people were forced out of their land because of the settler’s greed for everything and anything the land had to offer. Many Cherokee even embraced the “civilization program,” abandoning their own beliefs so that they may be accepted by white settlers. Unfortunately for the Cherokee though, the settlers would never accept them as an equal citizen. A quote from historian Richard White says it very well, “The Cherokee are probably the most tragic instance of what could have succeeded in American Indian policy and didn’t. All these things that Americans would proudly see as the hallmarks of civilization are going to the West by Indian people. They do everything they were asked except one thing. What the Cherokees ultimately

In 1830, gold was found in Western Georgia. Unfortunately, The Cherokee had lots of land there. Settlers ignored that and began to invade western Georgia. President Andrew Jackson then decided to sign the Indian Removal Act, because he believed that assimilation wouldn’t work. This act gave him power to order the removal of any tribe at any time. In 1835, The Treaty of New Echota was signed, which said that the Cherokee would leave their land and walk to Oklahoma. They refused to leave so after two years, they were forced out. Andrew Jackson and the U.S. Government had many reasons for the removal of the Cherokee people, but the Cherokee also had many reasons for why it shouldn’t have happened. Eventually, their removal had devastating effects on the Cherokee culture.

1830: President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act authorizing the move of of several tribes to Western lands. 1830: The Choctaws sign a treaty exchanging 8 million acres of land east of the Mississippi for land in Oklahoma. 1832: Democrat Andrew Jackson is re-elected president over his opponents, gathering 216 electoral votes to National Republican candidate Henry Clay's 49. 1834: Anti-Catholic protestors burn the Ursuline convent in Somerville, Massachusetts. 1836: Massachusetts Supreme Court rules that any slave brought within its borders by a master is free.

In the beginning, the Puritans and Native Americans were living on the new-found land in peace. They were even sharing their different techniques for farming and building. As the years went on and the English men became greedy for land, the Native Americans were being pushed out of their native lands. Most of the Indian tribes such as the Creek, Cherokee, Choctaw, and the Chickasaw had built their communities along the Mississippi River.4 The white settlers or Puritans began to want the land around the Mississippi River because they felt it would be very good grounds for farming, housing cattle, and harvesting timber. Because the white settlers thought that this expansion was destined by God, they felt that the removal of the Indians from the fertile land would be rationalized.

Prior to the election of Andrew Jackson the trend of the government was to attempt to assimilate Indians into the society of America. Jackson immediately reverted to a policy of exclusion and upon taking office almost immediately called for removal of the Indians. His reasoning

The Indian removal policy of the US government got signed to law on May 28,1830 which gave the president the right to grant unsettled lands west of Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing borders. “A few tribes went peacefully, but many resisted the relocation policy.” Approximately 15,000 Cherokees had opposed the treaty because they wanted to keep their nation under their control not the U.S. government. The Cherokee Indians were moved west from the United States government during the fall and winter of 1838 and 1839. The leaders of the Cherokee nation had wrote a letter to congress to protest the treaty of Echota. Some of the Cherokee Indians had approved the treaty and signed their land into the U.S. government but majority

As the 19th century started people were filling up the United States heading to what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Indians living here became an obstacle to the expansion. White settlers were upset and petitioned to remove the Natives. Although Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe argued that the Indian tribes in the Southeast should exchange their land for lands west of the Mississippi River, they did not take steps to make this happen. Indeed, the first major transfer of land occurred only as the result of war.

during the enactment of the Indian Removal Act, and that it constituted a gross abuse of presidential power (Cave, 2003). This charge was well founded as no part of the Indian Removal Act authorized Jackson’s denial of Native American rights during the removal process, nor did it allow for harassment, bribery or forced relocation (Cave, 2003). By disregarding the protection of Native American property and rights during this period, and flagrantly disobeying the outline of the Indian Removal Act, Andrew Jackson dangerously overstepped his boundaries during his presidency.

The march of the Cherokee Indians in 1836 from western North Carolina to Oklahoma, known as the “Trail of Tears,” is one of the most traumatic events in American history. By 1830, the Native Americans had adopted the written language of the Anglo-Americans and signed treaties with them guaranteeing their rights to their land. Although the Natives often adapted to the Anglo-American ways of life and many Natives converted to Christianity, the relationship between the Natives and the Anglo-American people was far from peaceful. The white Americans wanted their land. Despite the treaty, the Cherokees were forced away from their home and the majority of the Cherokee population relocated to Oklahoma. Only a small percentage of the Natives refused to leave their property. That event had numerous negative effects on the Cherokee people, which can still be seen today.

This allowed the Georgians to move into the previously secured lands of the Cherokee to dig for and retrieve the gold.

Throughout history, the Native people of America have repeatedly experienced hardships which led to the deterioration of their culture. In Georgia in the year 1802, the Cherokees were involved in a conflict with the settlers of the land due to the Georgians wanting to expand and longing to have the land to themselves. This brutality and greed then led to the Indian removal from this land. Within these points in history that natives are pushed out of Georgia was led by political and social acts ranging from laws and acts being passed along with whites invading the Cherokees land.

The Choctaw relocation began in 1830, seven years later the Chickasaw were removed. In 1836 the Creek were removed by force that was followed by the negotiations that started in 1832. The Seminole removal triggered a 7 year war that ended in 1843. They had been given 2 years to pack and move, and after the two years they would be moved by force. The government sent 7,000 troops to start the moving process. The Indians were forced off their land at bayonet point. They were not given any extra time to pack, they started loading and the whites took their homes and lands as soon as they were gone.

On arrival of finding this new land, the Americans came into nations that were causing the progress of finding additional territory a problem. They wanted the land to be theirs, so it led to the removal of many different Indian nations. The Indian nations living in the area were Cherokee, Creek, Chicasaw and Seminole. They wanted the land for growing cotton and expanded their control, so the settlers went to the federal government to obtain the Indian territory. They turned to Andrew Jackson, and he called for the war which caused many conflicts in trying to obtain the new territory. The Indian nation to attempt to fight were the Creek nations, and it caused the

White Americans wanted the land that many tribes owned for multiple reasons. Whites wanted to reduce conflict by also reducing contact between whites and the Indians. In addition, the whites wanted more land to expand on and did not want to have to live close to tribes. Finally ending battles and cutting right to

In the 1830s the United States was not good hearted to the Indians. As the country’s population grew, along with it the demand for lands, the Indians were the first to pay the price. As a result, the government enacted a policy of forced removal. The most famous was the Trail of Tears, the journey of the Cherokee Indians from northern Georgia to “Indian Territory” (present-day Oklahoma). At first, Georgia passed a series of anti-Cherokee laws. Property was confiscated, the Cherokees were not allowed to testify in court, and it was illegal for Cherokee to speak out against westward immigration (O’Neill 23). A lottery was held to distribute the Cherokee land to whites. Despite a Supreme Court ruling, numerous attempts at negotiations, and ignored